


Some Mistakes Get Made; That's Alright, That's Okay

by puffinmuffin13



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst, Gen, Inspired by Music, Post-Game(s), Virtual Reality, i wrote this as a warm up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26181460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puffinmuffin13/pseuds/puffinmuffin13
Summary: "You're alone, Kokichi, and you always will be."But wasn't that just a lie, when Kokichi woke up to find the entire game was virtual reality and he had a family that was waiting for him?Wasn't that just a lie, when Shuichi was just as much of a liar as Kokichi, but liked to pretend he wasn't?
Relationships: Oma Kokichi & Saihara Shuichi
Kudos: 44





	Some Mistakes Get Made; That's Alright, That's Okay

Kokichi met Shuichi again after the game.

The scene felt like glass, standing in the waiting room waiting for the announcement that he was released and could go home with the parents he didn't know he had. Shuichi had dried tear tracks on his face, appropriate for the slow, dramatic song echoing from somewhere down the hall. As Kokichi tilted his head with no expression (but plenty of emotion), Shuichi met his eyes.

"Kokichi," he said, quietly enough that Kokichi had to strain his ears. "I heard you woke up and were going home –"

"Of course I am," Kokichi interrupted, smiling thinly. "Why wouldn't I be? Did you think I'd be alone forever, like you said I was?" It would fit him. He really would deserve it, at this point, but for some reason, it seemed the universe decided he'd just now get the second chance he thought he was getting when they wired him into the virtual game.

Shuichi took a sharp breath. "What?" he asked, and Kokichi chuckled dryly. He ducked his head away from those accusing – pitiful – sad – angry – _powerful_ eyes.

"Let's not," he said simply. "Let's not talk about it. I don't want to talk about it."

"Isn't that a lie?"

Kokichi jerked his head up, staring Shuichi in the eye with an intensity that made him flinch. Kokichi bit his tongue for two seconds before responding, nails digging into his palm from curling his fists. "I don't lie in every single sentence, Shuichi." He lifted his chin challengingly. "I just do it enough to keep you on your toes."

Shuichi's eyes widened, and he took a step back. "Why? Isn't that lonely, lying enough to push other people away?" he questioned; with every word he seemed less like the jumble of fragmented memories Kokichi remembered from the game, and more like a person stitched together as a mix of who they want to be, and who they really are. It made Kokichi's lip curl.

"I'd rather be lonely than – than –" Kokichi gave up and shook his head. "Than you," he said, because how he was supposed to explain all the emotions that had been running through him ever since he woke up? Dull admiration for Shuichi sticking to his guns; spiteful anger that others were excused for doing the same as him or worse; bitter acceptance that all his extremes and mistakes were for nothing, in the end. "I'd rather be lonely than a liar who pretends he's not one."

_Because you said I would always be alone, only after you didn't help me when I was bleeding out in front of you._

Kokichi turned, and ignoring what Shuichi said next, walked over to his mom by the reception desk. She glanced down with a smile at him, taking his hand when he offered it and telling him it would be just a few more minutes before they could leave.

She wasn't lying.

Kokichi wished he remembered her.

Remembering a family he thought he didn't have would be better than remembering a friend he thought he had, but actually didn't.

Kokichi spared one last glance at Shuichi when they were walking out the front door, and he wasn't surprised by the oh-so-familiar irritation in his gaze. He'd gotten used to that look by now, after all – even if the words that led to receiving those dirty looks were just mumbles by now.

Kokichi turned away, squeezing his mom's hand and feeling her squeezing back.

He wasn't going to be alone – no matter what a detective who he never got along with said. He was Kokichi Ouma, a leader with a fake past, and he was going to carve his own future from his broken mirror.

He was a liar. And he didn't mind being lonely.

_That's a lie._

_Don't forgive me, Shuichi. I did wrong things. But hey, at least I wasn't boring, right?_

Kokichi smiled, and let his tears fall.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by _Moral of the Story_ by Ashe.


End file.
